Your Mother
by jumpthenfallx
Summary: “Tell me about Mom again,” she whispered. Nick looked down and sighed at the thought of Miley. He missed her so much. Quick oneshot. Niley.


Your Mother.

Nick Gray kissed his daughter's forehead and pulled the covers up over her and sighed as he looked down at her. She smiled brightly up at him. He smiled. She looked exactly like her mother. But he couldn't think of that, because of thinking of her mother would only make him miss her even more than he already did.

"Daddy?" 14 year old Sophie Gray asked quietly. Nick looked down at her and smiled. "What, princess?" he asked and stroked her hair, sitting on the edge of her bed. Sophie sat up and leaned against the headboard of her bed as she spoke.

"Tell me about Mom again," she whispered. Nick looked down and sighed at the thought of Miley. He missed her so much. She had died in a car accident when Sophie was a year old. She had been on her way home from the store to get back to Sophie and Nick when a drunk driver had crashed into her.

"Your mother was ... amazing, Sophie. You're just like her," Nick said. He looked down, trying to hold in the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes as he spoke to the young girl sitting beside him.

"What happened to her? Why isn't she here anymore? You never told me," Sophie said. Nick shook his head and whispered, "You're too young, baby girl." He stroked her hair and looked at her as she looked back up at him with sparkling eyes. The exact eyes he had fallen in love with. The exact eyes that had belonged to her mother.

"I'm not too young, Daddy. I turned 14 last week. I'm not 5 anymore. I can handle it," Sophie said. Nick chuckled. That was another thing that made her like her mother. The way she was brave, and dived into things.

"Baby, you say you can handle it, but I know you can't. Is there anything else you want to know, besides that?" Nick asked, smiling at the little girl beside him. Sophie twirled a strand of her brown ringlets around her finger and bit her lip, then smiled brightly.

"Tell me everything about her! Tell me why you fell in love with her!" she exclaimed. Nick smiled and said, "It would take me years to tell you why I fell in love with her, Soph." Sophie giggled and said, "Then tell me the main reasons.

"She was amazingly beautiful. She had eyes just like yours. You're the image of her, you know that? She could get me to do anything with the puppy dog look, just like you can. I loved that she was talented. She was a singer and an actress when we were teenagers. She continued writing songs, but she simply didn't record them anymore, and she stopped being an actress so her and I could start a family." Nick felt tears prick his eyes again as he continued speaking. "I loved the way she would hold you in her arms and tell you she loved you, and that you were her baby. She'd be so proud of you right now, baby girl. I loved the way she could find a solution to any problem. I loved the way that she saw me for who I was. I loved the way she twirled her hair around her finger and bit her lip when she was thinking, just like you do. I loved that she could sit and tell me all her problems and secrets all night and not get tired. I loved the way she tried so hard to make me happy, when she didn't need to, because I was happy to simply be with her. I loved the way that she was a family person. She respected her parents, and she loved you and I. She ... She had always wanted a baby girl. Her favourite name was Sophie. I loved her name – Miley. It was so unusual when I met her. It just drew my attention to her more. I loved the way she'd rather spend a night in and watch a movie with me than go out to a party or a restaurant. I loved the way she'd kiss my cheek every single night before she went to sleep, and tell me she loved me. I loved the way she ..." Nick trailed off and put his head down. He no longer held the tears in. Instead he let them flow freely down his cheeks as Sophie crawled out from under the covers and hugged him tightly.

"It's okay, Daddy. Mom loved you too. I can feel it. Even if I can't remember her, I know that she loved you too," Sophie said. Nick smiled and hugged Sophie back. "You're a very mature girl for your age, you know that?" he asked and wiped his tears. Sophie smiled proudly and nodded.

"That's why you should tell me why she isn't here – with us – anymore! What happened the day she left? I miss her, Daddy," Sophie said, whispering the last sentence. "I miss her too, baby girl. Okay, if you promise me that you can handle it, I'll tell you," he said. Sophie nodded enthusiastically, and Nick took a deep breath and began speaking.

"Your mother ... she had gone to the store. She was driving back home to us, to put you to bed, and to have some time with me. She had run out of baby food so she went to the store. As I was saying, she was driving home to us. She was a mile away, when a drunk driver crashed into her and ... he killed her," Nick said. What killed him was having to relive it all again – the memories of seeing her in the hospital bed.

"So Mom died because of me?" Sophie asked, her eyes glistening with tears. Nick shook his head vigourously as tears started seeping out of his eyes. They were uncontrollable. He wiped away Sophie's tears and pulled her into a tight hug.

"_Never_ say that this was your fault, Sophie! I wasn't! Your mom was being a good mother. She didn't want her baby to starve! Princess, you meant everything to her! She would've _died _for you! Never even _think_ that this was your fault!" Nick said, crying silently. Sophie started sobbing into Nick's chest, saying, "I miss her, Dad!"

"I know, princess. I miss her too. We all do," Nick whispered and stroked Sophie's hair as she wiped her tears and pulled away from the hug. "Tell me what happened after she died," she whispered. Nick hesitated, but began to tell her.

"I was putting you into bed. I was scared because she hadn't gotten home yet, and she had been gone over 3 hours. We had used up the last of your food and you had been sleeping since she had gone. I had just spent the 3 hours holding you in my arms. But when I started getting too worried, I put you to bed and phoned Joe. He told me not to worry, and that she was alright. I believed him, of course, and waited for another hour. The phone rang, and I answered. It was the hospital. They told me that your mother was in a coma in hospital. I completely broke down. I fell to the ground. I was crying so hard that I couldn't see a thing. I called your grandmother and asked her to look after you. She came by and I immediately left to go to the hospital and see your mom. I got there, and the doctors told me what had happened. She had a broken leg, a sprained wrist, a broken toe, a fractured finger, and she had lost a lot of blood when she had hit her head. She ... The crash had also caused her to lose our second child. I completely broke down again. That's when Joe, Kevin, Lilly and Maddie all came in. They tried to get me to calm down, or to speak, but I wouldn't say a word unless I was with you or your mom. They all told me that it wasn't healthy for me to be like that, but I ignored them. It got worse the day your mom died. I was sitting at her side, like I did everyday since the accident, and then the machines all showed signs of death. I started shaking my head and tears started coming. I started yelling for a doctor, and three came in and told me to leave. I told them that I wasn't leaving my wife, and then they told me. They told me she was dead. I broke down completely. Kevin, Joe, and your both your grandfathers had to pull me up and out of the room. I sat in silence until a doctor came out and asked us to make arrangements for the funeral, and he left. Joe saw me sitting and being so ... down, so he came over and started yelling at me. He told me it wasn't healthy. When I didn't say anything, he brought you into it. He knew that bringing you into the matter would really sort me out. So he told me that being like this made me a bad father to you. So I completely changed. I got better. I tried as hard as I could to forget the fact that she was gone. In fact, to make me feel like she's still here, I hold the pyjamas she wore the night before she died every night, because they smell just like her," Nick said as tears continued to fall.

He looked at Sophie and saw the silent tears pouring down her cheeks. She couldn't get the image of her father being so depressed out of her head. "Did ... Did you bury her or get her cremated?" she asked.

"She's buried at the graveyard down the street. I go there whenever I need advice. I just talk to the grave. Kevin thinks I'm crazy, but all four of your grandparents just call it love," Nick said and wiped his tears with the back of his hand. Sophie smiled and wiped her own tears.

"Can we go and see it now?" she asked. Nick smiled and said, "Soph, it's 10.30 at night. The gates are going to be closed at this hour. We can go in the morning."

"Fine. Thanks, Dad. For telling me the truth. It means a lot to me. I love you, Daddy," Sophie said.

"I love you too, Sophie," Nick said. He kissed Sophie's forehead and shut out the lights. He walked to his own room and picked up the picture of Miley on his dresser.

"I love you, Miley," he whispered.

_The End._


End file.
